The Elaboration Jobs
by Write-To-You
Summary: A collection of tags to various Leverage episodes. Mainly Hardison/Parker and Eliot/Parker and platonic Hardison/Parker/Eliot, because I love them :)
1. The Stork Job

**Author's Note: Okay so don't laugh, but episode 6 was actually the first episode I saw XD Originally Leverage was just going to be a show that I saw a few episodes of while I was staying with my sister in college and we had a TV night with her friend, but then I was hooked and so here we are. **

**Let me say... I knew I loved Parker and Hardison from that very first episode :) **

Parker couldn't sleep. She had known that, in staying with the team, she would be running cons that could be challenging sometimes. She just had no idea that they were going to hit so close to home.

Hugging her pillow, Parker twisted onto her other side for the eight time that evening. The alarm clock, situated in her line of sight, blinked pale green numbers at her: _1:04_.

Parker made a face and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Nothing could be done for her. It was time to pull yet _another_ all-nighter.

She wandered out of her room and towards her front door, putting her feet into her comfiest pair of clogs and shrugging on a sweatshirt. She had way more money than she would ever know what to do with, but as she had told Hardison and Eliot, she didn't like _stuff_, she liked money. That was fine with her, but it meant that her apartment was pretty much bare.

Though when she _did_ spend money, it was on fairly high-quality things, so her clogs were pretty darn great.

Parker yawned and picked up her water bottle, opening the door of her apartment and wandering into the hallway. All of the night-time protocols had been put in place in her building by this hour, so she was resigned to walk through dim corridors and a nearly pitch black four flights of stairs.

Before she had exactly decided where to go, Parker's feet turned her towards the Leverage office. She would walk. Public transportation was sketchy at this time of night and she _hated_ Ubers.

The Leverage office was nice. It looked like Nate and it smelled like Sophie, which reinforced the already evident fact that the two of the were basically the parents and Hardison, Eliot and Parker were the kids. Parker didn't mind. She had always wanted brothers, and Eliot and Hardison would do just fine for that.

Thinking of Hardison made her eyebrows furrow a little. It was become pretty clear, even to her, that he cared about her. She just wasn't sure _how_, exactly.

That was alright; she didn't need to know. At least not yet.

Parker used her key to let herself into the office and walked into the kitchen. Eliot had stocked them with food when they had all decided that they'd be sticking around, and he almost always made them lunch and sometimes even dinner when things ran late. Parker wandered over to the cupboard and pulled out a mix. Pancakes seemed like a just about perfect idea right about now.

She had just started mixing the eggs into the powdery mixture when she heard the sound of a key in the lock. Parker froze. The clock on the wall read 1:54. It seemed much too much of a coincidence that someone else would be having trouble sleeping.

Eyes wide, Parker grabbed her bowl of pancake mixture and ducked behind the table as the door slid open. She heard a sigh, and then footsteps, before they stopped.

"Yo, is someone here?"

Parker's eyes went wide. Hardison.

"Did we _seriously_ leave the light on?" Hardison muttered, walking further into the kitchen. "Even after Sophie yelled at us about being responsible with our electricity?"

"No..." Parker said, slowly standing up.

Hardison let out a tiny, high-pitched scream and stumbled back. "_Jeezum _Parker, you scared the heck outta me! Why were you hiding behind the table? With... a bowl of batter...?"

"Pancake mix," Parker corrected, setting the bowl calmly back on the table. "I was going to make pancakes."

"Oh." He put his hands into his pockets. "You couldn't sleep either?"

Parker screwed up her face and shrugged. "Today was kinda tough," she admitted. "I don't like talking about adoption stuff. And I don't like remembering those... early years. Also... we saved that orphanage but, like, there are more crummy ones out there and we really can't do anything about it, you know?"

Hardison looked thoughtful as he walked closer to the table and slid the bowl of pancake mix toward him. "Have you ever heard of the starfish story?"

"Huh?" Parker watched as he picked up the spatula and started to mix the contents of the bowl.

"The starfish story," Hardison repeated. "It's basically about this girl and boy who go walking down the beach after there's been a storm. There's a ton of starfish washed up and the girl starts throwing them back into the ocean. The boy's all like, 'you know you can't save all of them', but the girl just says, 'no. But I can save this one. And this one.' " He shrugged. "It just kinda makes me think of that. We can't stop all the crime and corrupt stuff in the world, but-"

"We can stop some of it," Parker completed, considering. "I guess you're right."

He snorted. "Of course I'm right. Now do you wanna turn on the griddle or not? These pancakes aren't gonna make themselves."


	2. The Wedding Job

**Author's Note: In case you didn't catch it in the chapter title, this takes place after episode 7 :)) **

"What do you think about getting married?"

Parker froze, before her gaze slowly slid towards the man who had just walked up beside her. She was still wearing her bridesmaid dress, Hardison's bugged flower making the skin of her shoulder itch.

The maker of said flower was now standing next to her, his hands tucked casually into his pockets. He wasn't looking at her.

"Um." Parker tugged awkwardly at her ruffly teal gloves. "What do I think about getting married?"

"Yeah." Hardison shrugged, still seeming so effortlessly casual.

Parker squinted at him, trying to read his facial features. She had never been very good at that. "I think that it's fine..." she finally replied, cautious. "I wouldn't wear gloves though."

Hardison snorted softly at that, and finally he turned to look at her. She remembered his words from just a few hours ago. "Now, you're perfect."

Parker let out a shaky breath, breaking the eye contact they had just made and looking straight ahead of her. "What... do you think about getting married?" she asked, words clipped and robotic.

Hardison shrugged again, reaching up to rub a hand over the back of his head. "I think it's nice," he said. "I'd like to get married, someday."

"Oh." Parker went squinty again and shot a quick glance at him. "With... who?"

Hardison's lips quirked. "I don't know yet," he said, catching her eyes again and smiling a little more. "The right girl, I guess."

"Oh," Parker repeated. She pursed her lips and tapped her fingers together. Cons she could handle. Feelings, on the other hand...

Yeah, not so much.

"I'm going to leave now," she muttered and speed walked away from Hardison, leaving him smirking behind her.


	3. The Mile High Job

**Author's Note: I loved this episodeeee but at the same time it kind of bothered me how mad everyone was at Hardison. And like they didn't forgive him even after he saved their lives. Like come on people!**

**Also I actually legitimately clapped for those pilots. That was some sick flying they did.**

Sophie wandered into the Leverage office at around 1 am. Hardison appeared about twenty minutes later, with Parker following not long after that. Nate just never left.

It took Eliot until 2 to arrive. He walked into the living room and didn't seem too surprised to see them all stretched out on couches, staring blearily into space. "Seriously?" he asked, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch that Parker was on. She stuck her feet in his lap and he gave her a look but didn't push them off. "_None_ of you could sleep?"

"We almost died today," Sophie said, lips pursed. "And I realize that that isn't uncommon for us, but this was... well, it was rather more stressful than the almost-dying has been in the past."

"I don't see why you're so condescending about it," Parker said, glaring condescendingly at him. "You're here, too."

"Yeah, because Hardison texted me to say that everyone was there and he didn't want me to be left out," Eliot replied with a light snort, glancing at the techie.

Hardison wilted under the various looks from his teammates. "What?" he asked. "It seemed like it was going to be a good team bonding moment and I didn't want him to miss out on it."

"Why are you even here?" Eliot asked, squinting at him. "You weren't even on the plane."

"Dude." Hardison shook his head in disbelief. "I was watching you guys crash from a couple hundred miles away, hearing the blood-curdling screaming through your coms and knowing that if y'all died, it was going to be my fault. Look I-" he broke off and rubbed his face, pressing the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. "I screwed up a lot today, and it wasn't exactly makin' for an easy sleep."

Sophie lips pursed and she looked down guiltily. "You didn't screw up, Hardison..." she started.

"Uh, yeah he did," Parker interrupted, squinting at her. "But I don't care, because I screwed up too a few weeks ago. We've all screwed up. We don't need to make a big deal out of it."

Hardison sniffed a little. "Thanks, Parker," he said, looking at her seriously. "I appreciate hearing that."

Parker shrugged and crossed her ankles, "accidentally" heeling Eliot in the thigh. Eliot glared at her as Sophie let out a deep sigh. "She's right," she said. "I think we were all stressed out, and made a big old deal out of nothing. You know what? I think that I couldn't sleep because I felt _guilty_ for the way we treated you, Hardison. I believe I'm rather all better now."

"I'm not," Parker muttered. "I still have bruises on my back from getting knocked into those luggages as the plane dropped."

Nate finally looked up from the coffee table. "You guys are right," he agreed. "Hardison, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have expected you to be there just because you always are."

"Dude, it's cool." Hardison held up his hands casually. "I just don't wanna be lettin' y'all down. If y'all died... man, I dunno what I would do."

Eliot sent him a quick half-smile. "We're not going to die, you idiot," he grumbled. "You think that's the first plane crash we've ever been in?"

The other three looked at him. "Yes," they answered in unison.

"Oh." Eliot pursed his lips, and then finally shoved Parker's feet off of his lap. She pouted petulantly but didn't push her luck. "Well... I'd like to say it gets easier after your first time, but it doesn't. I'm sore as heck. Night, y'all."

And with that, Eliot broke up the "team bonding moment" and left the Leverage office.


	4. The 12 Step Job

**Author's Note: Okay so I'm not like mega obsessed with Sophie and Nate, so this episode might not have been my favorite BUT THAT ENDING MAN. How ****_cute_**** can a group of three actually get?! **

The "happy pills", as Eliot had called them, were certainly an experience.

After Parker had come flying out of the rehab institution and launched into Eliot's arms, then proceeded to hug Hardison, she flat out ignored Sophie and Nate and put her arms around her boys, leading them across the lawn. Indulgently, they went with her as she tripped over her own feet and giggled uncontrollably.

Eliot steered them to Hardison's car, and got into the drivers seat. Hardison hadn't been too keen about sitting there since the whole bomb escapade, so he was happy enough to sit co-pilot. That left Parker to sprawl across the back, easily taking up all three seats.

Eliot's eyes flicked to her in the review mirror, watching as she stuck her head out of the window like a dog, her blond ponytail flapping this way and that. Hardison smirked slightly. "Yeah," he said. "I definitely like this version of Parker."

Eliot sent him a glance and rolled his eyes.

"Sooooo..." Parker said, pulling her head back inside the car and starting to fiddle with the window control. Up... down... uuuuuup... down-up...u-

Eliot closed the window and locked the controls and Parker pouted, then continued her sentence. "What have you guys been up tooooo?"

"Uh, you know." Hardison shrugged off the question. "Just the normal con stuff."

"Hardison sat on a pressure-sensitive bomb and almost blew both of us up," Eliot put in.

Parker's eyes went wide and she lurched forward so quickly her seat belt locked. After a brief struggle, she reached forward and tried to put her arms around both Eliot and Hardison. It didn't work very well. "You guys almost _died_?!"

Eliot didn't trust his mirror this time and actually turned his head to look at her. "Parker... are you... _crying_?"

"No," she blubbered, retracting her hands to wipe frantically at her streaming eyes. "I'm _not_."

Hardison reached back his hand and cautiously patted Parker's knee. She took it and started to play with his fingers, bending them into shapes and then comparing her hand size to his. "Your fingers are long," she whispered, not speaking to anyone directly as her tears slowed. "Longer than mine fingers."

Eliot and Hardison exchanged looks again. "We should probably bring her home," Eliot said quietly. "So that she's somewhere comfortable when she, you know..."

"Crashes," Hardison finished. "Yeah, that's not going to be pretty."

He carefully extracted his hand from Parker's grip and gave her a pat on the head like he might a dog that was sticking its head into the front seat. Parker leaned into the touch a little, making something in Hardison's chest go thump, and then stretched back out across the seats. "I'm tired," she proclaimed, and then shut her eyes and instantly fell asleep.

Eliot's eyebrows went up to his hairline as he took once last look in the rearview mirror before they arrived at Parker's apartment.

After they had parked, both Eliot and Hardison got out of the car. Hardison coughed. "So... obviously I'd like to carry her but... well, I don't think I can. She's heavier than she looks."

Eliot squinted at him. "She weighs like four pounds," he replied, opening the car door and carefully pulling Parker out and into his arms. Her head lolled against his neck and she let out a soft snore.

"She weighs like four pounds," Hardison mimicked in a very high-pitched voice, then muttered: "Yeah, if you're Mr. Buff Macho Do-You-Even-Lift-Bro Man."

"Are you coming or not, Hardison?" Eliot called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

**linebreaker**

Parker woke up in her bed with a splitting headache. She sat up with a groan, wondering where that floaty, giggly feeling she had been living with for the past week had gone. Wrinkling her nose and feeling decidedly grumpy, Parker got out of bed and stumbled out of her room to find some Advil.

Instead of the Advil, she came across Hardison and Eliot crammed onto her tiny couch, watching a football game on TV with the sound off. Hardison glanced up when she came in and smiled. "Hey. How're you feeling?"

"No happy pills today, Sunshine," Eliot said with a smirk.

Parker just grunted, then found her Advil already out on the table and swallowed two pills dry. She huffed into a chair. "Why'd you have to take me out of there?"

"Well." Hardison reached over and patted her shoulder. She glared at him, not wanting to be touched. "As much as we loved happy-go-lucky-giggly-huggy Parker, you weren't quite _you_ in there. Besides, we need you on our team."

Parker twisted so she had her hands resting on top of the arm of the chair and her chin stacked on top of them. "Was I really that huggy?" she asked, frowning.

"Let me put it this way," Eliot said, standing up and heading towards the kitchen, presumably to make her something to eat. "You hugged me like a koala hugs its mama."

Parker wrinkled her nose. "Ew," she mumbled, curling up into a ball. "Eliot, get me food. I'm hungry and hungover and I didn't even _want_ the drugs."

Eliot smirked. "You got it, Parker."

**Author's Note: Hahahhahahahha "like a koala hugs its mama" I LOVE ELIOT XD XD (yes, I know he didn't even canonically say that. Still XD) **


	5. The Second David Job

**Author's Note: ALWEHA ;LK FJAW;ELKJ Okay the endings of both part one and part two made me cryyyyyyy Like the part where Sophie was like "What would Parker do?" and Nate was like "what would Hardison do?" and then the end of 1x13 where they all went in their different directions like they always do but then they all stopped and ahhh...**

**Anyway. Fanfic time :)**

**(also, just for the record... atm I'm actually on 3x13... I'm just a really slow poster XD)**

Nate had vanished.

Sophie was already on a plane.

Hardison, Parker and Eliot wanted to get drinks, just one last time.

They crowded into three seats next to each other at loud, nondescript bar and ordered something. Parker sat between the two boys with her chin on her crossed forearms, her knee brushing Hardison's and her foot just touching Eliot's shoe. Neither of them argued the contact.

"Can't believe this is it," Hardison said finally. He'd never been one for silences... or goodbyes, for that matter. "After all those times we said, 'one more job. just one more.' "

"Maybe two," Eliot said. It was the first he had spoken since Sophie and Nate had walked and the three of them had slowly turned around to face each other and realized that they could leave without a goodbye. He had been silent the whole way over. Just nodded a chin at a random liquor when it came time to order drinks. His voice was rough.

"And then two turned to two dozen," Parker murmured. "And now there's not one more, or two more. There's zero more."

"When does your flight leave?" Hardison asked, glancing down at her. He drew in the way her blond hair reflected the blue light from the bar's dance floor, drinking it in just in case he never got to see it again. Or her.

Parker lifted her head a little and reached for Eliot's arm, checking the watch on his wrist that she knew would be there. "Two hours."

Hardison made note of the time, just in case he needed to search for flights that left two hours from now.

"You could miss it," Eliot suggested.

Parker let out a long, soft sigh and pressed her nose back down on her wrists. "I paid money for it," she mumbled. "I'd be wasting all of that good, nice money."

Their drinks slid along the bar. Eliot downed his all at once but Hardison just stared at his, swirling the liquid around his glass. He didn't even remember what he had ordered at this point.

"Does this really have to mean the end?" he asked, to no one in particular. "I mean... we could... we could keep doing it. The three of us."

Parker and Eliot didn't respond, though he hadn't expected them to. Hardison had always been the most vocal about his devotion and love for the team, and that wasn't about to change now.

Eliot gave a quick sniff and wiped his hand down his face, then pushed back his hair. Hardison watched him do it like he had Parker a few minutes ago, again wondering if he would ever see his best friend again.

Best friend. Brother, more like. Older brother who liked to ignore him and tease him and roughhouse. Hardison had always wanted one of those.

Parker shifted from resting on her nose to her forehead. "I don't want to leave," she mumbled to the table, voice sounding shaky. "I don't want to."

Eliot's hand came to rest on her shoulder. Just lightly, just for a second, but there long enough that Parker's breath shuddered and stilled and she sat up, much more composed.

"So," Hardison said, breaking the silence again. "After this, we leave?"

"I'll, uh..." Eliot trailed off and glanced over and Hardison and Parker. "I'm going to go find a place in the country. And, uh, settle, for a bit. Until the crime itch gets too... itchy."

Parker's drink was still untouched, but she stood up when he spoke. "Well... if you need someone to help you scratch it..." she gave them both one last crazy smile and Hardison felt his throat close. "Just, uh, let me know. And that goes for both of you."

Without thinking, Hardison reached out for her as she turned away, but she slipped through his grasp like the ghost she was so used to being. He let his arm fall.

"You gonna look for her?" Eliot asked in a low voice, tipping the last dregs of his drink around his glass.

Hardison squinted into the haze of the bar, just able to catch one last glimpse of Parker's hair swishing behind her before she vanished out the door.

"Yeah," he said, finally reaching for his drink. "I might just."

**Author's Note: Oh ho hoooooo nothing like an following an episode immediately with fanfiction to get the creative juices flowing out that quickly. **

**That one was fun. Oh who am I kidding; they're all fun.**

**I will be continuing this for season for :) **


	6. The Tap-Out Job

**Author's Note: Heheeee told you I'd be back. Okay, two things:**

**1: I LOVE how season 2 feels like an extension of season 1. Like in other shows they might change the episode pattern or the cast... nope. Same thing. Some might see it as repetitive, but I don't mind repetitive when I LOVE the original that's getting repeated :)**

**2: The plot twists, man! I thought Eliot really killed that guy. Also OH MY GOSH every time he comes on screen I just melt because he's sooo hotttttttt help me :O**

Eliot loved his people.

Not that he would ever, ever, _ever_ tell them that. But he did.

They had just finished up a con where he had had to be beaten within an inch of his consciousness, then pretend to kill someone while still having control without making it _seem_ like he had control. It was confusing to explain, much less to do with a concussion and broken ribs.

But he had pulled through, the state police had caught their target, and they were about to deliver their client the good news. Eliot had stood up, and now...

Well, now he was ringed on all sides. Parker to his left, Sophie to his right, Hardison behind him and Nate leading the pack. It was like he was a celebrity with a highly-trained security detail, and the thought made a faint smile flit across his face. No one had ever been _his_ security before... it was always the other way around

The smile faded when they stepped outside and the light hit Eliot's eyes. It felt like someone was taking a knife to his frontal lobe. And his parietal lobe. And his occipital lobe. And-

Hardison half-caught him as he swayed a little. "Hey man," he muttered, a hand pressing at Eliot's shoulder to keep him upright. "You sure you don't wanna go to the hospital?"

Eliot turned his head around to give him a glare and Hardison held up his hands. "Okay, okay! Sorry."

Parker took Eliot's arm, threading it carefully through hers like they were a couple taking a casual stroll. Eliot tried not to lean on her too much, but he was shaking. His adrenaline was gone and he suddenly remembered that beyond having just fought for his life, he hadn't slept in over 48 hours. With a con in motion it wasn't unusual, but it was still taking its toll.

"Alright," Sophie said, checking her watch and flipping her hair over her shoulder in a quick, easy motion. "I'm going to call our client and see if he can meet us-"

Eliot felt his stomach lurch at the idea of doing anything but laying down. "Can we just-" he started, before his voice shook and he was forced to take a deep, slow breath. "Can we head back to the office for a bit? To, uh... clean up a little?"

The look Nate and Sophie shared made him grit his teeth. Parker raised her eyebrows. "Whoa," she said, because no one else was going to and that's usually when Parker said stuff. "Did you just ask for some time to rest? You must be worse off than we thought."

"I'm- I'm not-" Eliot yanked his arm away from her, stumbling a couple feet to the right. "I'm _fine_\- I'm just... sweaty."

Parker, Hardison, Nate and Sophie actually stopped walking so they could turn and give him looks. Eliot rolled his eyes and then saw stars. He squeezed his eyelids lightly together, reminding himself that he should not be rolling his eyes under any circumstances. "Fine," he said finally, giving in. "I feel the crap. Happy?"

"Satisfied," Sophie corrected, taking his right arm as Parker claimed the left one again. "But not happy."

"Yeah, man," Hardison put in. "You think it was easy watching you get pummeled? We basically had to hold Nate back so he wouldn't lunge in there."

"I thought you weren't gonna get up," Parker murmured softly. "And then _Sophie_ made me go for the _doctor_, so for all I knew you were dead."

"It was a con!" Eliot protested, though he was honestly a little touched that they had all cared that much. "You guys knew what was going to happen."

"Yeah, but _knowing_ your teammate is going to get punched repeatedly in the face is a lot different than _seeing_ your teammate get punched repeatedly in the face," Hardison said. "We have perfect faith in your abilities and we knew the plan; all we're saying is that we were worried about you."

Nate glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "I knew you'd be fine," he told Eliot.

Sophie gave him a look. "You're such a liar. You were just as nervous as the rest of us. Don't pretend you weren't."

Nate shrugged and turned back around.

They had, by now, thankfully reached the van. Parker and Sophie helped Eliot inside (when, exactly, had he let them start _touching_ him so much?) and he fell into the passengers seat.

"Thanks," Eliot muttered reluctantly as he put on his seatbelt.

"For what?" Nate asked mildly, and Eliot wasn't sure if he actually didn't know if he was being mocked.

"For not making me sit in the back," Eliot smirked, giving him a look that let him know exactly what he was actually thanking him for.

"Well, excuse you," Hardison huffed, overhearing the comment. "The back of Lucille is a very secure and comfortable area for- _oof_!"

Nate had taken a sharp turn, accelerating rapidly, and Hardison slid into Parker. She laughed. "Let's play jello!"

"Oh, no," Sophie got up and quickly switched her seat so she was far away from the two of them. "You'll wrinkle my clothes."

"And we simply _can't_ have that," Nate muttered to Eliot, smirking.

Eliot snorted softly, looking back at Parker and Hardison, who were alternately swishing into each other at each turn the van made. Sophie was watching them with amused eyes, one hand fixing her hair. And Nate just kept his eyes on the road, driving them back to their hotel. But Eliot noticed that he was taking the turns a _little_ faster than strictly necessary, so Parker and Hardison's game would work.

Eliot smiled. Yeah... he loved his people.


	7. The Order 23 Job

**Author's Note: ak ;lkaj flkej ;lkw Why does Eliot have to be so adorableeeee like that thing with Randy AH oh my gosh *heart eyes***

"Hey Eliot," Hardison spoke up out of the blue. He was sitting slouched at Nate's dining room table, one hand resting lazily on the scroll pad of his computer. Parker was on the table next to him, sitting crosslegged and braiding small bits of her hair to pass the time, and Nate and Sophie were standing at Nate's island in the kitchen with their shoulders just barely touching and coffee mugs in their hands.

Eliot glanced up from the couch. He was lounged there with his hands interlaced behind his head, watching a football game. "What's up?"

"What was the deal with the kid at the hospital?" Hardison asked. "The one you were talking to. I meant to ask and then I forgot."

The relaxed, easygoing look on Eliot's face disappeared and he dropped his arms. He paused the game, unsure how to start. "Uh... his name was Randy," he said finally.

"Okay...?" Hardison frowned, confused by the answer. "Did you... know him?"

"Uh, no, no." Eliot pushed his fingers through his hair. "I... went to talk to him because... well, because his father was abusing him, and I wanted him to know it was okay to talk to someone about it."

A gasp from Sophie. Her hand covered her mouth for a second in shock. "Oh my gosh," she whispered. "That's awful."

Eliot shrugged. It was, but he didn't really like talking about this kind of thing.

"Wait," Parker spoke up. "How did you know he was getting abused if he didn't tell anyone?"

She was keen, that girl. Eliot cleared his throat. "I, uh... recognized the signs, I guess," he said. "He kept... looking at me. And the nurse mentioned that he'd been there a lot. And his dad, well... I just recognized the signs."

Again, Parker spoke up, asking the thing that everyone else would be too afraid to. "How did you know the signs? Were you abused as a kid?"

"Parker!" Sophie reprimanded, she, Nate and Hardison looking at her with aghast expressions on their faces.

"No, no," Eliot shook his head quickly, hair flopping into his face. His mind drew up a picture of his parents. His mom was a cook and his dad worked in the oil industry, and both of them had permanent smile wrinkles around almost every feature of their faces. The idea of them being abusive was completely impossible to imagine. "No, my parents would never."

"So..." Parker pressed. "How did you know the signs?"

"Parker..." Sophie said again, a bit more gently. "Maybe Eliot doesn't want to tell us."

"It's fine." Eliot shrugged off her concern. He didn't really want to talk about it, but at the same time these kinds of things were always hard for him to keep bottled up. "My, uh... my best friend in high school. Was abused. His father was... yeah."

There was a soft silence after that admittance, but Eliot couldn't stop talking now that he had started. "He would- he would come to school some days and I'd have to, uh, I'd have to help him to classes because his leg would be hurtin' or something. There was one time that he- that he threw up in the middle of class and then passed out and it turned out he had a concussion. I ended up callin' my mom, so that he- he wouldn't have to go home to his father."

His voice was shaking and fisted one hand and squeezed it with the other, than switched. Fist, squeeze. Fist, squeeze. Don't cry, Eliot Spencer. Don't you _dare_ cry.

Parker slipped onto the couch next to him. She was so silent he hadn't even heard her get off the table. She covered his hands with hers so he would stop squeezing and Eliot stared at the ceiling, breathing through his teeth. "What happened?" Parker asked in a whisper. "To your friend?"

Eliot lowered his chin and stared down at their hands. Parker's small, delicate fingers rubbed careful circles on the back of his wrist.

"I don't know," Eliot said finally. "His senior year of high school, he just vanished. His whole family up and left. He wouldn't return my calls, and no one knew where he had gone. To this day I- I don't know where he is."

If ending his story was supposed to make him feel more centered, it hadn't. Eliot ducked his head and felt his shoulders tremble.

By now, the rest of the team had slowly approached the couch. Sophie sat on the other side of Eliot and took one of his hands. Nate put a hand on his back. Parker carefully pulled Eliot's body so his face was resting on her shoulder and tentatively stroked her hand along his hair.

Eliot's body shuddered. The hair-stroking was something his mother would have done when he was a kid. He felt a sob build in his throat, and let it come.

He was safe here. He was surrounded on all sides by his team, his _family_. He didn't have to hide anymore.

"Thank you," Parker murmured, finally breaking the silence.

Eliot slowly lifted his head, his eyes red. "Why... why are _you_ thanking _me_? I should be thanking you; you're sittin' there... strokin' my hair, and-"

"My father..." Parker paused and stared up at the ceiling like she did when she was about to reluctantly share something that was hard for her. Hardison sat down next to her and put a hand on her knee. He knew this story. "My father, um... he abused me. His wife, too, but... mostly me." She shrugged slightly. "Until I... you know. Blew up his house and got out."

Eliot's eyebrows raised and Sophie shook her head slowly. "I'm so sorry," she murmured. "For both of you."

"Not the point," Parker said with another shrug, and Eliot nodded his agreement. They didn't say these things because of pity. They said them because that was what you did to show people you trusted them. You let them into places where you were most vulnerable. He and Parker got that the most out of all of them. "The point was, well... I wanted to thank Eliot for- for making sure that another kid doesn't have to go through that. What I went through. What- what your friend went through."

Eliot swallowed thickly, feeling more pressure behind his eyes. He reached up and cupped Parker's cheek and her eyes glittered.

"You're welcome, Parker," Eliot whispered. "You're welcome."


	8. The Two Live Crew Job

**Author's Note: THIS ONE! OMG this was one of my favorites in Season 2. Not the ending- Sophie leaving made me so sad :( (I also didn't like Tara all that much) But them facing off with their opposite gender copycats was the bestttt XD Also I literally knew Eliot and that girl were going to end up making out lol. PREDICTABLE ELIOT XD**

Hardison let out a grumble as he watched Parker set the stopwatch for the eight time, flying through her lock picking with the thief on Marcus Stark's team, Apollo. Eliot and Stark's hitter, Mikel, were still in the booth. Hardison was actually kind of surprised that they hadn't left for a more... private location. At least considering the whole handcuff scene he had walked by a few hours ago.

Hardison was getting bored. He wasn't sure if he would prefer that or talking with Colin Mason, Team Stark's hacker and almost-murderer of Sophie. Even before they had found out he was real bad guy, Colin had annoyed the heck out of Hardison.

But still. Why had it had to be _his_ copycat that was missing from the group right them? It was true that Stark's team didn't have grifter for Sophie to bond with, but she seemed happy to standing and talk with Nate and Stark himself. Hardison was not happy. He was bored.

"Haha!" Apollo cried from the table, throwing his hands in the air. "I beat you. _Again_."

"Again?" Parker scoffed, angrily yanking her picks out of the lock she had been working on. "You beat me three times and I'm beaten you five."

"Not true!" Apollo argued, glaring at her. "I've one five and _you've_ won _two_."

"We've played eight times," Parker replied with an eye roll. "That's not even possible."

"Well then, I've won six," Apollo concluded, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. "Should have known. Your pickpocketing skills back in the reception were pretty, well... how do I put this nicely? _Lame_."

Hardison's back straightened up. He knew Parker wouldn't appreciate him rushing to her defense but still... no one spoke to his girl like that.

Parker shot to her feet, face flaming with anger, and then turned and stalked over to the bar. She threw herself into a chair beside Hardison and grabbed his drink, draining it in one fluid movement. Hardison raised his eyebrows. "I was gonna argue about that being mine but _dang_ girl, that was pretty hot."

Parker rolled her eyes again, but she was smirking.

A few moments later, Eliot joined them at the bar. Hardison raised his eyebrow again. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd be taking her back to your room soon?"

Eliot huffed and waved the bartender for a drink of his own, Hardison not having any more to steal. "You kidding? That woman over their caused one of the most painful injuries I can remember. She's hot, but..."

"Ha!" Parker squealed, making them both look over. "You're scared to have sex with her!"

"Keep your voice down, will you!" Eliot growled, jostling Hardison in his haste to clap his hand over Parker's mouth.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Hardison warned, but it was two late.

"Parker!" Eliot yelled, yanking his hand back. "Did you just _lick_ me? Seriously?!"

Parker stuck her tongue out at him. "Serves you right," she grumbled, hitting Hardison's empty glass back and forth between her hands. "You just didn't like me embarrassing you."

It took them a moment to realize that, at some point, the bar had been emptied. "Where'd everyone go?" Hardison asked, realizing that even Nate and Sophie were gone. "Way to leave without saying goodbye."

"I'm glad they did," Parker huffed. "If Apollo had even looked at me I might have tased him. I _should_ have tased him."

"You should have," Hardison agreed absently, before spinning back around in his seat to face the bar again. Eliot had gotten his drink and Hardison pulled a Parker, grabbing it from the other man and taking a sip. Eliot gave him a look but didn't say anything.

That spurred Hardison into words. "You know..." he said slowly. "We don't say it all that often but... I'm glad you guys are my team. I mean... look at who we could have ended up with."

Parker and Eliot stayed silent, but Parker reached over and patted Hardison's knee.

He went on, unable to stop now that he'd started. "I can't even imagine working with that... Mikel woman instead of Eliot. Or Apollo instead of Parker."

"But Mikel is hot," Parker mumbled, putting her chin down on the tops of her hands. "I thought you liked hot women."

"You're hot, too," Eliot told her with a snort and Hardison was glad, because he wouldn't have had the courage to say that right then.

Parker lifted her head, eyeing Eliot suspiciously. "Do you... want to have sex with me?"

"Parker!" Eliot cried, choking on his drink. "_No_! Just take the compliment!"

Parker sat up, satisfied. "Okay," she agreed.

"Anyway." Hardison shrugged a little. "I'm grateful for you guys."

"You're also stomach-turningly sentimental," Eliot grumbled. "How many drinks have you had tonight?"

"None," Parker giggled. "I stole his."

Hardison wasn't getting anywhere, but he felt like his point had been made. He shook his head and waved for two new drinks, hoping that it would, at the very least, ensure that Parker wouldn't take his again.


End file.
